Shimano RC5 cycling shoes review

Is the RC5 Shimano's ultimate 'gateway' shoe?

Image shows Shimano Cycling shoes
(Image credit: Future)
Cycling Weekly Verdict

A great looking shoe with all the tech features and hallmarks of a far more expensive model, with almost as good performance. The slightly fiddly tongue is the only real fault.

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Adequate stiffness for multi-hour rides

  • +

    Simple, single BOA retention

  • +

    Aesthetics

  • +

    Size range

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    Fiddly to get the tongue sitting comfortably

  • -

    All white finish difficult to keep clean

You can trust Cycling Weekly. Our team of experts put in hard miles testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

If ever there was a shoe that embodied the 'trickle down' effect, it's the Shimano RC5. The RC5 straddles the boundary between a high performance race ready cycling shoe and a comfortable leisure oriented version, with some standout features.

One look at the RC5 and it's easy to see it belongs to the same family as Shimano's top level S-Phyre shoe - it looks (in my opinion) totally killer and makes you question the need to climb any higher in the range if you're just a 'normal' rider.

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